Critical AI Literacy for Lawyers

2 credits · Law

In this course, you will explore legal and non-legal AI tools to develop the knowledge, judgment, and practical skills to critically use and assess AI in legal practice and research, while navigating the associated ethical and professional responsibilities. Because AI technology is evolving rapidly, this course emphasizes broad, transferable skills rather than mastery of particular tools, and course plans may adapt to new developments. Throughout the quarter, you will develop a customizable AI playbook that you can take with you into your future legal work. This playbook may take different forms, such as charts, templates, or customizable AI skills & workflows, depending on your interests and professional goals. This course takes place online over Zoom and Canvas. You will work directly in various AI tools and will leave the class confident in responsibly integrating AI into your legal work. The learning objectives for this course are (1) Explain to a non-AI user common AI concepts, including how AI works and the basic fundamentals of AI systems, and why this knowledge matters for legal practice and research; (2) Critically assess your own and others' use of AI tools through independently evaluating ethical and professional risks related to confidentiality, accuracy, verification, and disclosure; and (3) Engage with an AI tool or agent to effectively and responsibly complete an assigned task and ensure that your knowledge and skills of AI tools evolves as they adapt. Learning AI tools requires a hand-on approach, so students will be graded based on attendance and active participation in class, completion of in-class exercises and homework projects.